How to Prepare Your Roof for Melting Snow

By
Divine Roofing, Inc.
|February 19, 2019

With the month of February nearly over, the weather will be starting to
warm up soon, and that means the snow which has accumulated on your roof
is going to begin to melt. While melting snow signals spring, it can also
signal some potentially serious problems are about to happen with your
home if you aren’t careful. Melting snow turns into water, and continual
water exposure on your roof could lead to rotting materials, leaks, and
plenty of other problems.

So before spring officially begins, it’s time to start preparing
your roof for what could happen during the spring months ahead. Here are
a few simple, easy-to-follow steps that can make a world of difference
when it comes to preventing your roof from sustaining serious damage as
the snow begins to melt.

Clear Your Rain Gutters

Rain gutters play a huge role in preventing damage to your roof when snow
begins to melt. However, they can only do their job when they’re
clean and water can flow through them freely. Dirty gutters, or gutters
that are filled with things like leaves, sticks, mud, dirt, and other
debris, don’t allow melting snow to escape. This leads to standing
water, which could then re-freeze into a solid chunk of ice. This chunk
of ice could cause your rain gutter to come crashing down, or even form
an ice dam on your roof. Ice dams are gigantic chunks of ice that have
frozen on the eaves of your roof, which cause tremendous damage and are
a major safety concern.

It may be cold outside, but now’s a great time to get out on a ladder,
clean out your rain gutters, and make sure melting snow can freely and
effortlessly enter your rain gutters and flow away from your home.

Sweep Away Large Chunks of Snow

One of the best ways to prevent melting snow from damaging your roof is
to simply sweep it off your roof before it can ever melt! This way it
melts on the ground, away from your roof, where it can’t turn into
water that your roof has to deal with. Roof rakes are a great way to do
this, as they let you stay down on ground level and effectively sweep
snow off your roof with minimal effort or hassle. However, make sure you
stay well clear of your roof when doing this—there could also be
hidden chunks of ice on your roof, and falling ice can cause serious injury.

Dislodge or Melt Away Ice Dams

Lastly, ice dams are arguably the largest source of damage when snow begins
to melt. These large blocks of ice that are created by previously melted
snow re-freezing when it trickles down to a colder section of your roof
down by the eaves. Ice dams not only prevent snow from being able to flow
away after it melts, but they present a huge risk to your roof—the
stagnant water and immense weight could lead to serious wear and tear
on your roof, as well as wood rot, warping, and material damage.

The best way to stop ice dams as winter turns to spring is to simply prevent
ice dams from ever happening. Regularly sweeping your roof with a rake
can prevent dams from forming, but if you don’t have a rake you
can still keep dams away fairly easily. A roof heater system can prevent
ice from freezing by supplying a constant spell of heat to the most vulnerable
areas of your roof. Specialized melting tablets can also prevent ice from
forming. However, we strongly advise against using salt, as it creates
water that could be harmful to anything below your roof, including grass
or plants.